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^FROM THE BONDAGE OF 





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BY 



AND 



A Word to Judge Black. 




NEW YORK : 
BRENTANO'S LITERARY EMPORIUM, 
5 UNION SQUARE. 




FREED 



FROM THE BONDAGE OF 



SUPERSTITION. 



BY 



AN ORDINARY MIND, 



AND 



A WORD TO JUDGE BLACK 

T 

X 



^ y ( MAY 3 1883 

NEW YORK : \^Op VV A $ HI W G ^ - 

Brentano's Literary Emporium, 
5 Union Square. 



V 



Copyright, 1881, 

BY 

BRENTANO'S LITERARY EMPORIUM. 



TO 

" DOUBTING CHRISTIANS" 

THESE THOUGHTS ARE 

DEDICATED, 

IN THE SINCERE HOPE THAT THEIR PERUSAL MAY 
GIVE COMFORT AND CONSOLATION. 



The V Poplars." 

Oxbridge, 

May, 1881. 



ERRATA. 



9?,?9£ e 6 i i Werever should read 41 Wherever." 
2d Line. ) 

9 n .F T ge 8 ' I Often to " t£ " often too." 
14th Luie. f 

9£ P a &? 13 > t Those to whom should read " those whom." 
21 st Lme. ) 

°ortP? ?e 16, \ To which 1 clin * " " " to wilicn 1 clung. 




" indisputably." 



FREED FROM 

THE BONDAGE OF SUPERSTITION 

— AND — 

A WORD TO JUDGE BLACK. 



Having, just before this little essay goes to 
press, seen the North American Review for Au- 
gust, containing the articles of Mr. Ingersoll 
and Judge Black, it is impossible to refrain from 
saying to the latter that assertions are not proofs, 
nor ridicule of his opponent, or sneers at his 
ideas, argument ; — and that one of his strongest 
pleas is, in my opinion, his weakest, viz : when 
he alludes to the spread of Christianity. 

He says : 

" It is not true that ' a profound change has taken place 
in the world of thought? unless a more rapid spread of the 
Gospel and a more faithful observance of its moral princi- 
ples can be called so. Its truths are everywhere proclaimed 
with the power of sincere conviction, and accepted with de- 
vout reverence by uncounted multitudes of all classes. Sol- 
emn temples rise to its honor in the great cities ; from every 
hill-top in the country you see the church-spire pointing to- 
ward Heaven, and on Sunday all the paths that lead to it 
are crowded with worshipers. In nearly all families parents 
teach their children that Christ is God, and his system of 
morality absolutely perfect. This belief lies so deep in the 
popular heart that, if every written record of it were de- 
stroyed to-day, the memory of millions could reproduce 



6 



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it to-morrow. Its earnestness is proved by its works. 
Werever it goes it manifests itself in deeds of practical be- 
nevolence. It builds, not churches alone, but almshouses, 
hospitals and asylums. It shelters the poor, feeds the hun- 
gry, visits the sick, consoles the afflicted, provides for the 
fatherless, comforts the heart of the widow, instructs the ig- 
norant, reforms the vicious, and saves to the uttermost them 
that are ready to perish. To the common observer it does 
not look as if Christianity was making itself ready to be 
swallowed up by Infidelity. Thus far, at least, the promise 
has been kept that ' the gates of hell shall not prevail against 
it/" 

It has naturally spread to a great extent, 
for its principles are those which appeal 
to the good and wise — who naturally lead— and 
those principles have been inculcated for politi- 
cal and state reasons. But though the Christian 
faith has nominally greatly been adopted, yet, 
if we could arrive at the knowledge of those 
who believe from conviction and unbiased reason- 
ing, and not from education and association — 
we should (and Judge Black probably knows it,) 
find that the smallest proportion so believed. 

It is not Christianity that has advanced the 
world alone, but the fact that a higher civiliza- 
tion has been the natural result of scientific re- 
search and knowledge. The principles inculca- 
ted by the Christian faith, none can deny to be 
well-suited to the advancement of the human 
race; but the horrible ideas which have been 
deduced from it by men, are those from which 



OF SUPERSTITION. 



7 



I urge all to free themselves; for it is impossi- 
ble for the average human being to have peace 
of mind, when believing, or striving to believe 
in these awful, pitiless doctrines. 

And when he says : 

" Just here another dilemma presents its horns to our ad- 
versary. If Christianity was a human fabrication, its au- 
thors must have been either good men or bad. It is a 
moral impossibility — a mere contradiction in terms— to say 
that good, honest and true men practiced a gross and will- 
ful deception upon the world. It is equally incredible that 
any combination of knaves, however base, would fraudulent- 
ly concoct a religious system to denounce themselves, and 
to invoke the curse of God upon their own conduct. Men 
that love lies, love not such lies as that. Is there any way 
out of this difficulty except by confessing that Christianity is 
what it purports to be — a divine revelation." 

I am astonished ; for, that a man of his great 
learning and clear judgement should consider 
such an argument as conclusive, is, to say the 
least, strange. 

Those who wrote the Gospels — actually wrote 
them — may have believed that the account of 
the miraculous birth of Christ, and the miracles 
performed by him, were true, but we all know 
that it is a most easy matter for a credulous 
mind to accept the wonderful, and Christ's acts 
would be naturally exaggerated by believers, 
and any act of an enthusiast, (which he might 
have been), might, through the vivid imagina- 



8 



FREED FROM THE BONDAGE 



tion of him upon whom the act was performed, 
actually produce apparently a marvellous effect. 
This, at this day, we daily see. 

The story of this effect, handed down through 
several generations, would naturally grow in 
its proportions, and finally, be reported in such 
a form that Christ himself would not recognize 
his own much more simple deed. And it should 
be borne in mind that an ignorant and not highly 
educated man, though possibly good, honest 
and true, is naturally over credulous, and par- 
ticularly desirous of creating an interest by the 
relation of a startling tale, especially if he be 
the hero of it ; often, to, at the expense of ab- 
solute veracity. 

Were the Gospels — and could it be positively 
so proved — an exact account of the deeds they 
describe, beyond a doubt, written by the Apos- 
tles ; though even then not conclusive proof of 
the deeds so described, being as described, there 
would be a much stronger probability of their 
being true ; but such, unfortunately for Judge 
Black, is not the case, as he is well aware. So 
his reasoning on this point is plainly at fault, 
and when he says : 

" Let all Christians cease their labors of charity — blot out 
from history the records of its heroic benevolence — repeal 
the laws it has enacted and the institutions it has built up — 



OF SUPERSTITION. 



9 



let its moral principles be abandoned and all its miracles of 
light be extinguished — what would we come to ? I need 
not answer this question ; the experiment has been partially 
tried. The French nation formally renounced Christianity, 
denied the existence of the Supreme Being, and so satisfied 
the hunger of the infidel heart for a time. What followed ? 
Universal depravity, garments rolled in blood, fantastic 
crimes unimagined before, which startled the earth with 
their sublime atrocity. The American people have, and 
ought to have, no special desire to follow that terrible exam- 
ple of guilt and misery." 

There will be found few or none to dissent, 
for indeed it would be a sad thing to see 
■" Christians " cease, etc.; but others beside 
Christians (by Christians I mean those who be- 
lieve in the doctrines deduced by men from the 
Bible and tradition) do their good works, 
and as sad a thing would it be to see them 
cease to help their less fortunate fellows. Chris- 
tianity, as described above, has not alone made 
men full of good deeds, for there were good men 
and good deeds before Christ was born ; but 
the Good which is planted in every human heart; 
some possessing in great, and some in small 
degree. 

The great misfortune for Judge Black seems 
to me to be that his basis is not a solid one. 
First he must prove the Gospels as given to us 
to be exact, then his deductions may have 
some force. 



io FREED FROM THE BONDAGE 



Freed from the Bondage of Superstition 
was written many months before the August 
Monthly appeared, but as I said, it was impossi- 
ble not to notice what Judge Black had said, 
and point out one or two great errors. There 
is no necessity for doing more, for I feel satis- 
fied that the following pages will induce a 
thoughtful study of the whole " Question/' 



FREED FROM 



THE BONDAGE OF SUPERSTITION, 



"The Poplars," 

Oxbridge, May 3, 188 1. 

No subject more fully occupies the minds of 
those who think at all, than that which is pop- 
ularly called Religion — and by which 1 mean 
those rules which should guide us in this life to 
secure happiness, and by following which, we 
will insure fo# ourselves a happy life hereafter, 
should there be such an one. 

More especially do we find that all minds are 
most deeply concerned, when they do think on 
the subject, with what is going to occur to them 
individually after death, and it is fair to presume 
that no man, if once thoroughly convinced that 
a certain line of action will insure a blessed 
eternity, will deliberately follow an opposite 
course. 

It is a certainty that none but the frivolous and 
light-minded can hastily refuse to investigate 



12 FREED FROM THE BONDAGE 



this, the most important problem that can be 
presented to a human being. 

Is there a fixed and only religious belief? 

This paper is written only for those who live 
in communities where, nominally at least, they 
profess the Christian religion ; and happy in- 
deed are those who possess sufficiently peculiar 
organizations to live in an unquestioning faith 
in it. Nor do I care to raise a doubt in their 
minds; for them this book is not, but I write 
for those who, though brought up in such 
communities and in the atmosphere of the 
Christian faith, yet have the misfortune, (either 
from the natural inquiring bent of their minds, 
or other circumstances,) to doubt the truth of 
what those about them believe, without ques- 
tioning or unbiased investigation, but merely 
from the fact that their fathers and forefathers 
believed in the same manner. 

To those I write, in the hope that they may 
find, by a few simple ideas, plainly and clearly 
expressed, peace of mind in regard to the true 
way of living, without which no approach even 
to happiness can be made, but with which, 
other things being equal, true happiness can be 
had. 

Nothing can be more useful in accomplish- 
ing this result, practically, than to give the 



OF SUPERSTITION. 



13 



experience of the writer, and thus can be clear- 
ly seen, step by step, how in his case that peace 
has been obtained, and how the conclusions he 
has reached were gradually and naturally 
formed. 

My parentage and a long line of ancestors 
were Protestant Christians, and I was brought 
up in the strictest manner of the Presbyterian 
Sect, and until well on in my teens, never 
had a doubt but that the Bible was, word for 
word, literally true, and that the doctrines as 
given out by the clergymen under whom I sat 
were equally so — never even questioning 
whether their deductions were natural, even 
admitting the book to be true, or, in fact, ques- 
tioning or doubting anything, but receiving it 
all. 

Now, frankly, why did I receive it, and was 
there any other reason? 

1 received it solely and only because from 
earliest childhood those to whom I had looked 
up to as infallible, my parents, told me so. 

Was there any other reason? 

None. None whatever. 

But when twenty years of age 1 began to 
question. 

I had a close friend, slightly my senior, who 
lived the purest of lives, who was, in fact, the 



14 FREED FROM THE BONDAGE 



most elevated in sentiment and action of all my 
friends, and he (having been brought up in a 
different atmosphere) entirely differed from the 
views I, second-hand, entertained, and in the 
many arguments had between us, I found myself 
clearly worsted, but fell back on the doctrine 
that reason might show my ideas to be unrea- 
sonable, but "faith" told me differently, and 
with that I was for a time satisfied ; though a 
most puzzling query to me was: 

If the Christian religion is true, my friend — 
though leading a higher, purer life than I, prac- 
ticing greater self-denial, and in many ways 
a better man — is to be eternally punished while 
I am to be saved ? 

I could not understand it, but only accepted 
it because my teachers told me so. 

From twenty to twenty-five, these and other 
kindred thoughts oppressed me to such a de- 
gree as to induce me to endeavor to drown 
them in every way possible, and to forget the 
whole subject; but as every questioning reader 
loiows, that was impossible, and finally at the 
latter age the question came to me more sharply 
and strongly, and my continual prayer came to 
be : " Lord, I believe ; help thou mine unbelief." 
Doubts would assail me, and though 1 was en- 
tirely unable to answer them from my reason, 



OF SUPERSTITION. 



15 



I said, faith is sufficient, and fought to believe 
what my reason rejected, and what was only 
to be believed by me because I had been told it 
was true. 

Shortly after this period, came to my mind 
this disagreeable thought: 

" Where does imagination end and faith be- 
gin?" 

For I clearly saw that it was a possible matter 
for a man to work himself to a state of mind 
where he could imagine almost anything ; and in 
prayer, for instance, which was always to me the 
greatest help and gave me the greatest relief, I 
began to have the horrible suspicion that the 
peace which I thought God gave me in answer 
to my prayers, was only the natural result of an 
accepted belief in its efficacy, and that believing 
it to be a duty and a privilege to pray, and striv- 
ing to believe it would be answered, 1 was in a 
more peaceful frame of mind, because I had 
done my duty, and a duty done I was naturally 
relieved, and further, being a believer, I felt 
that having prayed, I had done all that could 
be done. 

Still I dared not look the matter squarely in 
the face. 

The doubts of the truth of the Bible, and 
the consequent Christian theory of religion,! 



16 FREED FROM THE BONDAGE 



dared not allow to more than come to the por- 
tals of my mind ; for once there, they were 
thrown out as impious, blasphemous, terrible, 
and not to be soberly entertained for a moment. 

Often and often did I say to myself and in 
discussion : 

" Of course I believe the Bible — every word 
of it ; and that Christ was God ; and reiterate the 
other doctrines to which I cling ; " for though 
oppressed with doubts, my ever-recurring 
hourly cry: " Lord, I believe; help thou mine 
unbelief," was my refuge, and I thought I was 
right ; and why ? Only because I had been 
told so. 

During this time, having been intimately 
thrown with Romanists, my mind was much 
perplexed by the fact that this same Christian 
religion had so many " parties " in it, and (with- 
out entering into the discussion of the relative 
merits of the different sects,) it clearly came to 
my mind that there could, in reason, be only one 
true Christian Church ; but that among Chris- 
tians there were so many who claimed to belong 
to the only true church — and there were so many 
" only true " churches — only served to perplex 
me more, and finally the reason which induced 
me to dare to look at this question of religion 
as I would at any other, with the intelligence 



OF SUPERSTITION. 



17 



which my Creator plainly and undisputably 
gave me to use in little affairs, and as clearly ten 
thousand times more in such a vital question ; 
to look at it unbiasedly, separated from ail I had 
been told, judging it and weighing it as I would 
any other highly important matter, was the 
following ; and I cannot see how, when one 
looks at this statement, he can dare not to look 
at the Question itself. I said to myself, how is 
this : 

Given: — A Romanist, a Protestant, an Atheist 
or Materialist (or, in a word, an unbeliever in 
the Christian religion,) all equally pure in life. 

All equally intelligent. 

All under substantially the same conditions 
as human beings. 

Now, then, these men (and I had in my mind 
three living characters who fulfilled the condi- 
tions) have arrived at diametrically opposite 
conclusions, therefore there must be good 
grounds for a question. 

It cannot be a positive truth when under such 
circumstances these different conclusions can be 
reached ; and from that moment I commenced 
to dare to say that I would let my reason decide 
for me whether the Bible was true, and whether 
Christ was God. 



18 FREED FROM THE BONDAGE 



Freed so far, and it had taken years to accom- 
plish it, from the bondage of superstition, for it 
was naught else, the investigation began in the 
proper spirit. 

Naturally, I was most anxious to find, not that 
what I had believed (or thought I had believed) 
for so many years was untrue, but on the con- 
trary, that it was true, and that I should not have 
to wrench myself from the belief of my father, 
and tear myself from the faith of my mother. 

Interest, affection, all, all pointed to me to drop 
the investigation and be a " Christian/' but no 
man, once the " Question " has arisen in his mind, 
can retain his self-respect and not definitely de- 
cide it. Once determined I decided that noth- 
ing should deter me from arriving at the truth. 
Truth at least for me. 

Once the doors opened, and reasons without 
number rushed into my mind to show me why 
what had been told me was untrue, and I think 
it much better to give only one or two of the 
more forcible and unanswerable, than to go into 
a lengthy or detailed argument. 

I would refer the reader to other works on 
this all important subject, my object being only 
to induce those who are in the troubled state 
of mind that so long was mine, to induce them, 
I say, to dare to free themselves from what must 



OF SUPERSTITION. 



19 



be, in the nature of things, a superstition ; for 
they only know it because they were told it was 
true ; and to examine, as I have, more closely. 

This paper is only to point the way, and in- 
duce further and deeper thought. 

My first great doubt was, what evidence did 
I have that Christ was born in the miraculous 
manner described ; and when I dared examine, 
I found that I only knew it because it was re- 
ported by others (and through a medium most 
possible to be, in its transmission through cen- 
turies, mutilated), that two people, Joseph and 
Mary, had said it was so, and that they and 
others had said an angel had told them it would 
be. Without going into the full arguments to 
show that there can, in the nature of things, be 
no mathematical demonstration of such a fact, 
it seems clear to me, (taking that one doc- 
trine alone, that I must believe that Christ was 
conceived by the Holy Ghost, and without that 
belief be lost and in suffering eternally,) that 
that alone would make me reject the Christian 
religion, for it is a matter of opinion and open 
to question, and impossible to be proved that he 
was so born ; and for me it is unnecessary to go 
further. 

That decided me that it was not a good or 
true faith that made it a sine qua non that I must 



20 FREED FROM THE BONDAGE 

believe that a man was born as Christ was said 
to be, with no manner of proving it, or if not 
able to believe it, suffer eternally. 

The fact that it is impossible to prove beyond 
a doubt that God manifested himself to man 
through Christ, is, I say, conclusive evidence 
to me that it may not have been, and when I 
admit that it is not a certainty, then I admit 
the right to have a doubt. 

Then, too, we have in all the Book only the 
record of man that God communicated to man, 
and that is no proof; for, because a man told 
me a thing occurred, it would not be certain 
to me that it did, and when that thing was a 
thing supernatural, then so much less likely 
would I be disposed to believe him ; and when 
in addition it was told to me, — handed down 
through ages — subjected to the great dangers of 
changes in form, &c, — then, indeed, I could not 
believe, that; — 

Unless I believed to be absolutely true, just 
what I was thus told, that just what some one 
else had written, what some one else had heard 
from others, who had been told them by a man 
who said that he had talked with God, then I 
say, if I am told that I must believe what was so 
told to me to be true, or else be lost for eternity, 
I plainly say I would not accept a faith depen- 



OF SUPERSTITION. 



21 



dent on so weak a basis — a basis so likely to be 
wrong. 

That Christ could have been God, none will 
deny, for the Creator of the Universe could 
easily turn the pen with which I write into a 
God, but that God did make a man into God, is 
a thing I cannot decide, and I see nothing to 
make me believe it at all likely that he did do so. 

More particularly, for the reason that if the 
Creator should desire to communicate with his 
creatures, I cannot imagine his doing it in such 
a manner as that there could be any doubt 
about it that the communication came from 
Him ; and in this case, nothing has ever oc- 
curred in the world's history which has required 
so much blood and brains to be expended in 
endeavoring to make man believe, and still he 
does not and will not ; and even those that do 
think they believe — if it could be ascertained 
how large a proportion do so from unbiased 
conviction — I believe it would be certainly dis- 
covered, that the greater number believed, only 
because education, association and superstition, 
induced them to do so. 

One's conscience is the sure guide of his life. 
It is true that that can become blunted, but only 
by not living up to its dictates ; and the incentive 
and motive to a high and pure mode of life is 



22 



FREED FROM THE BONDAGE 



sufficiently strong, in the desire to have that 
peace of mind and content which the leading 
of such a life is sure to bestow upon us. 

And that a contrary mode of life will bring 
us the opposite, needs no argument, to prove. 

Additional, too, to this, is the reward here of 
a good life in material matters, and the punish- 
ment for leading the contrary. 

Whether there is a future life beyond, none 
can say ; if there is, I can readily admit that a 
better and purer life here, may obtain a happier 
there, and the contrary. 

Nothing would be lower or more debasing 
than to hold a future reward as the sole in- 
ducement to a pure life in this. There is suffi- 
cient without it. 

Therefore, I would counsel all to lead the 
life that will conduce to the greatest good to 
their fellow-beings, and thus to themselves, for 
it is a fact that all human beings are guided by 
motives which are essentially selfish ; by that I 
mean advancement of self is the first object 
with all, though it takes in its methods different 
forms. 

Entertaining the highest respect for those 
who sincerely believe in the Christian religion, 
as for any one who is sincere, I call on all doubt- 
ing minds to earnestly look into the subject, 



OF SUPERSTITION. 



23 



and come to a clear and solid decision based on 
reason. 

These thoughts as given, will be spoken of by 
the deeply learned and theologians as " sophis- 
try," foolishness," and "those of a weak mind." 
But there is one point to remember, the 
large majority are minds of ordinary calibre, 
and it is impossible for them to have the time 
or opportunity to become learned or deeply 
versed in theology, and it is for them I write. In 
this question of religion each mind must make 
its own choice, and it is for each one to look to 
it that he honestly looks into the " Question " 
when once it has come to him, and not commit 
that greatest of all crimes, hypocrisy ; for a man 
who, doubting or unbelieving, takes the sacra- 
ments of the Christian faith, can commit no 
greater outrage against his self-respect, and 
against the high principles which every human 
being should endeavor to adopt as his own. 

I give only a few reasons, and these are suf- 
ficient, (for they are the foundation of the 
Christian System), that induced me to reject the 
religion of my youth. For if Christ was not 
born miraculously, then the whole system is 
false, and I only ask those who doubt, to 
throw aside forever the fetters that tie them in 
bondage, and look fairly and squarely in the face 



24 



FREED FROM THE BONDAGE 



— as they would any other terribly important 
matter — the question put at the beginning of 
this paper : 

"Is there a fixed and only religious belief?" 

And if they look at it in that spirit, freed from 
all bias — which bias has come from education, 
tradition and the fact of human beings naturally 
accepting as true that which is by those about 
them so accepted — 1 am satisfied that in the end 
they will have that piece of mind which is the 
first requisite to happiness here. 

Let this little book induce a few of the weary 
ones, full of doubts and high aspirations as 
well, to break the bonds that tie them down 
and look fearlessly on this question of religion, 
its object will be accomplished. 

It is sure, I repeat, to be said by the " Wise 
Men," that it has no force of any kind, that it is 
sophistry, and that the arguments are no argu- 
ments ; but, as I also said, it is written by an 
ordinary mind for ordinary minds, and that 
large class must have such reasons given them 
as they are able to understand, and being one 
of that class I give the reasons which have ap- 
pealed to me most forcibly, and brought me 
happiness of mind. 



OF SUPERSTITION. 



25 



It will also be said that this little book con- 
tains nothing but a repetition of what has been 
said by others in a much more intelligent man- 
ner. . 

I can only answer that these opinions occur- 
red to me before I had ever seen them written, 
from my inner consciousness, and from a careful 
and close reading of the Bible, confirmed after 
numerous conversations with clergymen of 
many different sects, and that they being true, 
and founded on reason, must come to any mind 
of ordinary intelligence which thinks at all on 
these subjects. 

The fact being that others may have said the 
same before, is no reason to say that these 
ideas may not have come to me from my 
own investigation and free thought. 

It is very easy to say that all this is from 
lack of education — falling from grace — not em- 
ploying the means of grace, &c, &c, but 
the fact remains that it is impossible to think 
otherwise, once having freed oneself from the 
hateful bondage of superstition and tradition ; 
and I call on all who read these pages to break 
away from what they have been told — and un- 
unreasoningly accepted, as a matter of course 
— and think for themselves, aiming always, how- 
ever to lead a pure and elevated life and thus gain 



26 FREED FROM THE BONDAGE 



that peace which passeth understanding ; for 
no one can so look at this question and come 
to any other conclusion than that the doctrines 
of the Christian religion are the work of man, 
and need not be of necessity true, and are not 
true, according to the standard of intelligent 
reason and common sense, which are the only 
guides the Creator has given us in such matters. 

One thought more : The Christians ridicule 
the many different faiths of the heathen, and 
say that they are absurd and impossible to be 
accepted by any intelligent, educated person; 
but look at this religion of Christ, as manufac- 
tured by men, and I defy more absurd, ridicu- 
lous theories to be found than those promul- 
gated by the Christian Church. They cannot 
be understood by the ordinary mind (and 1 beg 
that the old answer will not be given here, " that 
is not necessary to understand all we believe/*) 
and are infinitely less sensible or reasonable 
than one-half of the beliefs of the heathen. What 
can be more fanciful than the " Three in One," 
— the Father equal to the Son, &c, &c, &c. 

But I am going where I did not intend. 

I leave the investigation to each individual. 

All I would suggest is that he read the Bible 
from a new standpoint — read it, forgetting what 
he has been " told" — read it as if for the first time 



OF SUPERSTITION. 



27 



he had heard of the book, and he cannot come 
to any other conclusion than that it is not of 
divine origin, and that man has twisted it to 
suit his ends. 

None regret more than I that many so-called 
" freethinkers," by their lives of immorality and 
looseness, have induced many to associate as 
synonomous, Deist, Atheist and Freethinker, 
with libertinism and license — and there is, un- 
fortunately, ground for such an impression — 
but because many have professed not to believe 
in Christianity for the purpose of procuring 
license to indulge in vices which that religion 
forbids, it is no reason why others should not 
have rejected it from high motives, and it 
should not deter from a fair and impartial study 
of the facts. 

Christ, who doubtless lived, was as doubtless- 
ly a pure, noble, elevated soul; none can do 
better than follow his example, or that of any 
other pure life. But it is impossible to imagine 
that he ever believed that all the theories and 
" isms " which have arisen would have been 
tacked on to his few simple words, admitting 
them to be correctly reported, which is more 
than doubtful. 

I close, again expressing the hope that the un- 
happy minds of the doubting and perplexed, 



28 FREED FROM THE BONDAGE. 



may dare to look, and find, as they surely will,. 
Peace. And I repeat, also, that I advise most 
strongly a close reading of the Bible ; but 
first by the strongest effort of will, free the 
mind from all ever heard of it, and read it as a 
new book, then I have no fear of the consequen- 
ces. 



* 



